OK - before I go into the details of my first car's transformation into legend, I have been asked repeatedly to give a genealogy of the cars of my life. (Willy comes to mind singing a version of "to all the car's I've loved before"....) OK- so my first car was a 1969 VW Beetle - enough said for now.
1969 Beetle begat:
1980 VW Sirocco. This car was purchased for the sole purpose of having a VW with heat! I was traveling back and forth to Oregon City from LaCenter in the winter of 1988/1989. The beetle did not have heat hooked up, Todd was driving it, and I needed a car with heat. (Oh - and I was hung up with having a VW.) This car was metallic green, but I did end up changing that to Metallic black eventually.
1980 VW Scirroco begat:
1967 Ford Bronco. This truck was great! 4 wheel drive, 289 V8 engine, 3 on the tree manual transmission. Ugly, ugly, ugly paint. Awful fuel economy. Oh, the windshield wipers were pneumatic - they operated on air pressure - which is to say that they stopped working while accelerating or climbing a long hill. I had this truck when I only lived 2.5 miles from work in Woodland.
1967 Ford Bronco begat:
1989 Toyota 2 door Tercel. This was the first car I had bought by way of "trade-in". I believe this car had a am/fm radio, a steering wheel, and rear view mirror. It was basic, basic transportation, but only 4 years old at the time I bought it. It was black. Good fuel economy, but BORING!!!
1989 Toyota Tercel begat:
1994 Ford Ranger XLT. My very first brand new vehicle. This truck sported a 5 speed manual transmission, 2 wheel drive and am/fm cassette. It was powered by a 2.2 litre 4 cylinder engine. Bright metallic green - a beautiful truck!! This truck was a 2 year lease.
1994 Ford Ranger XLT begat:
1988 Ford Taurus MT5. This car was loaded! Cruise, A/C, am/fm cassete, power everything - except transmission was a 5 speed. This car had problems out the gate, and after about 4 months, my whining got loud enough, the dealership decided to take it back in on trade.
1988 Ford Taurus MT5 begat:
1990 Ford Ranger XLT. This was one of my favorite vehicles. It was burgundy. At this point I had gone into business for myself and needed a truck - check! This truck had a long box, V6 engine, cruise, A/C, am/fm cassette. I drove this truck for about 4 years and put about 65K miles on it. My son Alex still remembers trips to pick up parts with me in this one. He sat in the front in his car seat and I bought him "ninims" (m&ms) and sprite. Necessity brought me to trade this beauty in.
1990 Ford Ranger XLT begat:
1997 Ford F150 XLT super cab long box. This was great! We could fit the whole family in it, power everything, a beautiful green truck with matching canopy. At the time I bought this one, it had 11K miles on it and was 2 years old. It was smooth, fun and most of all - looked like a contractor's vehicle. I wish it would have had a 4th door, but it worked pretty well for what it was. A great work truck. A job / life change would bring me to my next vehicle.
1997 Ford F150 XLT begat:
1988 Honda Accord LX. This was a pile o' crap! Nothing worked on it, but it did start and almost always engaged the clutch. I would own this gem for about 6 months driving to work and back. It was gold in color, and the front bumper was held on with a coat hanger or two.
1988 Honda Accord LX begat:
1996 Chevrolet S-10 pickup. This was actually a very nice truck. Low miles, immaculate condition, auto everything, and a very beautiful sky blue metallic paint. I drove this truck for about 6 weeks when the dealership called and said they screwed up the financing and were not able to do the deal. Thus.....
1996 Chevrolet S-10 pickup begat:
1998 Ford Ranger XLT. This was light blue, had a supercab, and a V6 engine mated to a 5 speed manual transmission. A/C, am/fm cassette, just saying that this was more loaded then the other Ranger's I had owned. I owned this truck when I went into the auto business.
1988 Ford Ranger XLT begat:
1990 Toyota Corolla. This car was a trade in. I bought it with the whole intention of selling it for a profit - which I did 4 days later.
1990 Toyota Corolla begat:
1997 VW Cabrio. Where do I start? I bought this as an investment car, but loved, LOVED driving with the top down. (I liked to feel the air blow through my long locks of hair.) This car was white with a white top. It had an eclypse sound system and a 10 inch thumper in the trunk. (The only thing you could get in the trunk.) I mentioned this was an investment car? Yep - sold her (Chrissy, the Cabrio).
1997 VW Cabrio begat:
1999 VW Passat GLS. Another investment car, this one was a steal! She was a gorgeous metallic black with buckskin colored interior. 6 cd changer, auto tiptronic transmission, moon roof, 1.8 turbo engine. She scooted pretty well. I left the auto business while driving Paula and another necessity.....trade.
1999 VW Passat GLS begat:
2006 Ford F150 XLT 4x4. I drive this truck still today. Wish it got better fuel economy, but I have had him for almost 4 years and have no plans to get rid of Phil.
While not in the genealogy, it is noteworthy to mention that I owned a 1965 VW Karman Ghia from 1994 to 1995 and drove it sparingly. When Alex was born and we lost Marcy's income, and had some bills to pay, I sold "Strawberry shortcake" to make ends meet. She was beautiful and was in immaculate condition. ( I in fact bought her from a little old lady who had driven her for about 28 years.)
I also currently own a 1987 VW Cabriolet who we call Murray. He runs great and last year had a new white top put on him.
I own (but don't drive) a 1963 VW beetle ragtop that I took in leau of payment on a job I did by way of a mechanics lien. Who knows the actual condition of this car. I haven't even started it. Maybe some day, but at the moment, I do not have the money for a project car.
So this is M. David Kestner's Car geneology. Does it seam like I am missing some cars? I am - this is just cars begat from car's I have owned. Marcy's car geneology will follow shortly!!!
Showing posts with label cars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cars. Show all posts
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
That first car smell.....Here we go!
I will always remember my very first car. It was a 1969 VW Beetle. My father and I worked together to make it a reality. I remember driving the 1970 Bus with the entire family out to some location in Washougal to "pick up" a 1962 Beetle from a friend of his (I believe he traded him a gun for the car which was in terrible shape, just for the 1200 cc, "massive" engine.) About 2 weeks later, the engine was mated to the 1969 chassis and it was delivered to our driveway by Bob "the wizard" Taylor. It was a thing of beauty! It was mostly light blue with some dark blue panels. The interior was in fair condition, but the coolest thing was the gravel you could see through the floor boards as you sat in it. Oh, that first car smell. Imagine what some musky "Polo" cologne combined with gasoline and burnt oil would smell like - It was heaven!
The car had sat outside next to the Taylor barn for about 3 years with a blown engine, certain to never see the road again..... But, dad, wanting to add a 2nd car to the household, had seen it while home teaching or something and the dream was born. I must admit that at the time that the car showed up at the house, I had not spent one red dime on the car - dad did not require it. This trend, however, would soon change.
Having in our possession a legal, registered, car with turn signals, horn and reverse, (within a few weeks), we made our way to Longview, WA to take my driver's test. I must admit, (Todd), I passed the very first time! On the way home, dad and I stopped at the local pizza spot in LaCenter and ordered a Canadian bacon and pineapple and 2 sodas to celebrate. I remember wolfing down the teenage fare and having to wait for dad to finish his half. In retrospect, I now realize that this was dad's way of relishing his eldest son's last complete dependency. When we finally got on the road again, dad talked to me about "responsibility, prudence, and blah,blah,blah......" I deposited him at home, kissed my mother and ..... out the door I went! It was by far the best feeling I had experienced to that point in my life - the open road and my ability to point the car in any direction I wanted to go!
Over the next few months of my junior year, I drove to and from school, pausing only long enough to adjust valves, fix turn signals, work on that damnable horn, and change the oil. In short - keep the car on the road.
It should be noted that this car probably had less power than an electric car. It was packed with 40 horses and could only get about 10 to focus their pulling power! In short, speeding tickets were not a major concern. I would spend hours and some money trying to remove dents from the hood and panels learning the art of auto body work. It wasn't pretty. (Add primer grey to the color palette!) Oh the days of dreaming of a one colored car! (Those days, however, would never come)
About 4 months after getting the '69 on the road and most bugs worked out, it became time for me to have my first experience of "being shit upon" by my car. It was somewhere between exit 16 and 12 on southbound interstate 5 that I remember coming up a 2 degree grade just before the rest areas and feeling the shudder and then the very obvious loss of power and needing to pull over. What a sinking feeling! I don't remember much about the walk to the rest area to make a collect phone call to home. I don't remember much about the trip with dad to Rudy's (the new wizard's) shop with car in tow. I do remember the look on dad's face as we were informed in very good germanglish "that would be the end for that bullshit". (I would find over the next few years that this was one of Rudy's favorite phrases.)
To make a long story short, dad had purchased a 1972 bus (in excellent condition) that needed to have a new engine installed and she was good to go! Once the new bus was on the road, I was to get the engine out of the 1970 bus. ( a whopping 1600cc, 56 horse power engine!) I do remember driving the 1970 bus for a time waiting for Rudy to have the time to swap the engine, but it should be known that the change was made eventually (how long - felt like eternity - I can't remember.)
I would drive my beetle most of my senior year. The story of the transition into legend will continue shortly............
The car had sat outside next to the Taylor barn for about 3 years with a blown engine, certain to never see the road again..... But, dad, wanting to add a 2nd car to the household, had seen it while home teaching or something and the dream was born. I must admit that at the time that the car showed up at the house, I had not spent one red dime on the car - dad did not require it. This trend, however, would soon change.
Having in our possession a legal, registered, car with turn signals, horn and reverse, (within a few weeks), we made our way to Longview, WA to take my driver's test. I must admit, (Todd), I passed the very first time! On the way home, dad and I stopped at the local pizza spot in LaCenter and ordered a Canadian bacon and pineapple and 2 sodas to celebrate. I remember wolfing down the teenage fare and having to wait for dad to finish his half. In retrospect, I now realize that this was dad's way of relishing his eldest son's last complete dependency. When we finally got on the road again, dad talked to me about "responsibility, prudence, and blah,blah,blah......" I deposited him at home, kissed my mother and ..... out the door I went! It was by far the best feeling I had experienced to that point in my life - the open road and my ability to point the car in any direction I wanted to go!
Over the next few months of my junior year, I drove to and from school, pausing only long enough to adjust valves, fix turn signals, work on that damnable horn, and change the oil. In short - keep the car on the road.
It should be noted that this car probably had less power than an electric car. It was packed with 40 horses and could only get about 10 to focus their pulling power! In short, speeding tickets were not a major concern. I would spend hours and some money trying to remove dents from the hood and panels learning the art of auto body work. It wasn't pretty. (Add primer grey to the color palette!) Oh the days of dreaming of a one colored car! (Those days, however, would never come)
About 4 months after getting the '69 on the road and most bugs worked out, it became time for me to have my first experience of "being shit upon" by my car. It was somewhere between exit 16 and 12 on southbound interstate 5 that I remember coming up a 2 degree grade just before the rest areas and feeling the shudder and then the very obvious loss of power and needing to pull over. What a sinking feeling! I don't remember much about the walk to the rest area to make a collect phone call to home. I don't remember much about the trip with dad to Rudy's (the new wizard's) shop with car in tow. I do remember the look on dad's face as we were informed in very good germanglish "that would be the end for that bullshit". (I would find over the next few years that this was one of Rudy's favorite phrases.)
To make a long story short, dad had purchased a 1972 bus (in excellent condition) that needed to have a new engine installed and she was good to go! Once the new bus was on the road, I was to get the engine out of the 1970 bus. ( a whopping 1600cc, 56 horse power engine!) I do remember driving the 1970 bus for a time waiting for Rudy to have the time to swap the engine, but it should be known that the change was made eventually (how long - felt like eternity - I can't remember.)
I would drive my beetle most of my senior year. The story of the transition into legend will continue shortly............
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